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Home / People / New Britain native Manafort transferred to Alexandria jail

New Britain native Manafort transferred to Alexandria jail

Posted on Saturday, July 14, 2018 by Willis Stokes

New Britain native Manafort transferred to Alexandria jail

Paul Manafort seems to have lost his polish, a new mugshot reveals, showing the once-dapper, well-coiffed power player with gray hair and facial stubble.

"Because he is a high-profile inmate, Mr. Manafort will be placed in protective custody which limits his interactions with other inmates", Lawhorne said.

Despite their recent complaint, Manafort's lawyers swiftly objected, citing concerns over the inmate's safety and the potential "challenges he will face in adjusting to a new place of confinement". "We will work closely with the U.S. Marshals to ensure his proper care while he remains in our custody", Lawhorne said.

Originally confined to the Northern Neck Regional Jail in Warsaw, Virginia, Manafort complained the lock-up was too far away from the courts and his attorneys, making it effectively impossible for him to prepare for trial. The DC trial is scheduled for September 17, and the Virginia trial is set for July 25. Contrary to Manafort's assertions, the prosecutors argued that his jail, while located two hours from Washington, had provided him with ample access to his lawyers and had not hindered his preparation for trial. But Mueller's office appeared to throw cold water on several of Manafort's arguments in Wednesday's filing opposing Manafort's request.

Manafort's lawyers called the statements from Mueller's office "self-serving and inaccurate" and want their client's trial postponed.

"If five lawyers take up five rooms, then you wait in line for someone to finish", defense attorney Marina Medvin said.If they take up the entire time slot, then you're out of luck - you need to leave and come back and hopefully be first in line". He has not reached out, they said in court filings.

Prosecutors would like to use in his fall criminal trial the accusation that Manafort broke foreign lobbying laws three decades ago to show that he knew the extent of the law.

"Think about how it'll play elsewhere", Manafort said in a recorded phone call from jail cited by prosecutors.

A footnote in the filing describes the "unique privileges" enjoyed by Manafort during his jail stay, including a private and larger cell than others in the facility as well as access to a private bathroom and shower. While Manafort was not required to wear a jail-issued uniform at Northern Neck Regional Jail where he was being housed until Thursday morning, Bertsch says all inmates at the jail in Alexandria are required to wear the dark green jail jumpsuits used at that facility.

Officials confirm the former Trump campaign chairman was booked Thursday morning into the Alexandria Detention Center in Virginia, a complex of low-slung brick buildings just off the Capital Beltway and a few blocks from the federal courthouse where he will be tried later this month on bank and tax fraud charges. In the last three weeks, Manafort has had more than 100 phone calls with his attorneys, and another 200 calls with other individuals, according to Wednesday's filing. While the calls are limited to 15 minutes, there is no limit on how many calls he can make.

They also recently provided Manafort with 8,290 documents from the computer of his former business partner, Rick Gates, who has pleaded guilty and is cooperating with the prosecution.